I LOVE Holy Week! I often experience the supernatural power of God at this time of year more than any other.
So much is happening at BHCC ~ I can barely wrap my brain around all of it!
The theater renovations have begun. We heard they just installed the new carpeting in the first four theaters that they are working on. They are right on time and hope to have the whole theater completely done by Memorial Day weekend. We have been moved from theater 11 to theater 1 which is even bigger. The tentative plan is that we will be moved again to the brand new renovated theater 12 on April 21st. WOW---so exciting!
We have no idea how the new looking theater will impact our church. We've often wondered if the fact that the theater was getting so run-down and not as cleanly as it could be has affected our rate of growth. We've been at the theater for six years now and God has more than doubled the size of our church in that time. Overall, we've had slow, steady growth--I consider that very healthy. Growing a church...

John 3:8
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The word 'spirit' in both Hebrew and Greek means 'breath' or 'wind.' Both a breath of air and a breeze are appropriate images for the Holy Spirit. (And so is a gust :-)
Like the wind, the movement of the spirit is not something that any of us can control. As Jesus said, 'the wind blows wherever it pleases." We don't know where it's coming from or where it's going. And this is exactly how the spirit moves in churches as well. God's Church is alive! It's not an organization, it's an organism! It's living, breathing and ever changing. I continually marvel at its complexity. I am humbly aware of how little control I have over any of it.
Often, I feel like much of my calling from God is to be a watcher on the wall; always searching & seeking for what direction the Holy Spirit is going to MOVE next. It does feel much like waiting for the...

John 1:14
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
For the last few weeks, I find myslef meditating deeply on the concept of the combination of grace and truth. I was thinking that this is truly what Blessed Hope Community Church is built upon. It is our foundation and it is the transforming agent that continues to grow our church by changing lives for all eternity.
It was definitely this combination of grace & truth that changed everything about who I am and how I live my life. I really can't imagine that a transformation would have happened had there been only one of these ingredients given to me. It had to be both somehow and maybe it's because wherever the presence and indwelling of Jesus Christ happens to be, there has to also be the essence of who He is; and as the above scripture says; that is a fullness of grace and truth.
It's a beautiful picture really, one that unfortunately...

Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays!
It seems that at this time of year, I am often in need of a little attitude adjustment and Thanksgiving is the exact catalyst I need to make it happen. Not sure why I get a bit cranky this time of year: Maybe it's the shorter days. Maybe it's the cooler temperatures and the lack of color in the world. I'm sureit has much to do with the lack of sunlight. Whatever it is seems to affect me in such a way that I find myself feeling cranky and complaining a whole lot more.
Thank God the Thanksgiving Holiday comes just in time to remind me what's really making me cranky. I have slipped into focusing on the negative and not actively seeking to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. It happens so easily if we're not carefully guarding our hearts. It's because it is our human nature (flesh) to be self-centered and whiney. If we're not purposefully counting our blessings and seeking to be focused on our LORD, we will go into autopilot and begin to whine and complain about...

The church is not a building.
It both amuses and frustrates me everytime someone asks me if our church plays movies on Sundays. It still surprises me that some people have the perception that we don't have live sermons or a live band, but think that we simply watch a movie the whole time.
I think the reason is because so many people have the wrong perception of what Christ's CHURCH is all about. It saddens me to think that so many people these days have come to think of the church as being a building or a denomination. I want to say, we are not the building! We are simply a Christ centered church that happens to meet in a movie theater for worship on Sundays.
It's actually a very practical thing to do. We're a very young church that could no way afford to build or buy a building, especially one in Webster. And leasing a large space for worship that meets all the right legal code requirements for handicap people & crowds gathering is much more complex than most people realize. SO if you think about it,...

This past weekend was the last weekend of the summer! Come this Thursday, Summer is 'officially' over. Yesterday felt like the last day of summer to me so that made it a perfect day to spend boating on the canal with good friends! (Who also happen to be my church family as well!)

Like every season in Upstate, NY, Fall is a time of transition. Fall means getting back into routines. It means going back to school. It means going back to church. :-) It means changing our wardrobe to warmer clothes. It means the landscape around us changes. Making the transitions of the climatic seasons are relatively easy compared to adjusting to most of the other kind of seasons in our lives.
I mean think about it, life is constantly changing; even when it's in positive ways: Graduation, getting married, having a baby, getting a new job, becoming an empty-nester,...

I'm excited to announce that the Mosaic Cafe will begin a new season of coffee house atmosphere with incredible music on Friday, September 7th! We're going to do things a little differently this time around and go a little bit more country / rock style entertainment. We have some exciting, professional talent lined up so mark your calendars NOW! More exciting details coming soon! Upcoming Cafe event dates are Sept. 7, Oct. 12th and Nov. 9th.

Blessed Hope Community Church is incredibly BLESSED to have so many babies lately! In just a little over a year, five different families of BHCC have given birth to FIVE babies AND . . . we're expecting two more, both by year's end! I LOVE it!!! We've had 3 girls and 2 boys and are expecting two more baby boys! It really is exciting to have so much new life bursting forth!
Seven new babies! That's one great way to grow the church God! Thank you so much and keep them coming!!! One great thing about the theater is that the parents can bring them right in their strollers!
"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3
“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
We LOVE babies and children at BHCC!!!!!

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13NIV
I love this message series that we're currently doing at BHCC called "Connect the Dots." I pray that the BHCC peeps are getting at least half as much as I'm getting out of it! I've been hearing a lot of positive feedback on it so certainly the LORD is working, working, working!
Preparing a message is often one of the hardest and most wonderful things I do each week. Few people realize that it takes between 15-20 hours each week to prepare a 25 minute sermon. There is so much prayer, and research, and writing and polishing and practicing that goes into it. It takes a great deal of concerted focus and some weeks, it is definitely harder than others. ...

“I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:7NIV
BHCC had a huge loss on June 29th, 2012. Bill Lamb, our dear friend and brother in Christ went home to be with the Lord. Bill has been on the Lead Team in our church for the last seven years. He has served God and the family of BHCC in more ways than I can count. He taught Sunday School every other week for all of those seven years. He orgainized dinners, fund-raisers and cooked breakfasts & meals for more people than I can count.
He participated in around 84 Lead Team meetings and many leadership retreats in that seven year time and contributed greatly to the direction and growth of BHCC.
I remember when I first met Bill, I wasn't sure what to think of him. :-) Bill was...